


Man of the Moon

by PiersonNyx



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-22
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 09:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2344241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiersonNyx/pseuds/PiersonNyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perseus Jackson was on his own. His parents were dead, and his uncle beat him, so he ran. He ran for his life, until the least likely people took him in and decided to raise him. The Hunters of Artemis grew fond of him, even the Goddess her self. Thoughts seems that the least likely hunter grows fond of him. Sadly, it can only last so long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One - In the Open

The Hunters of Artemis were walking through the north west side of Colorado. The Rocky Mountains were clearly   
visible, even at dusk and even the hunters, who had seen them a thousand times, were still amazed at their   
appearance. The moon was slowly coming up, making their lady seeming to glow with her aura.   
They were tracking a monster that Artemis seemed very keen on tracking. The hunters hadn't stopped for more than   
a few hours in weeks, and no one knew exactly why she was so keen on hunting this monster. All they knew was that   
it was important, and so they didn't ask questions.   
Zoë was walking along, mostly without a care in the world. She was thinking about her time in the hunt. She shivered   
at the memory of Heracles, though she was slightly glad for the idiot, because with out him, she wouldn't have found   
the family that she had gotten in the hunt. After a few moments of thinking about her past, she tripped over a soft   
lump on the ground. Annoyed, she turned around to look at what she had tripped on. After a quick glance, all she saw   
were leaves in a pile. The pile of leaves was nothing out of the ordinary. It was fall, so of course there were going to   
be leaves on the ground. She decided to ignore it. Right before she turned around, cursing herself for tripping on her   
own feet and some leaves, she noticed the leaves move slightly upwards, and then fall down again, causing curiosity   
to get the better of her. If she had learned anything from being in the hunt, it was that weird things like that almost   
alway have a reason besides chance. She slowly walked towards the lump. By this point, the other hunters were   
watching her, noticing her curiosity, though Artemis hadn't stopped, and was slowly walking away from the group, still   
intent on the task at hand.   
When Zoë got to the leaves, she crouched down and watched the leaves for a few more seconds, studying them   
intently, as if they were a code to be broken, but as she watched, they continued to rise and fall slowly, in a steady   
pattern, as if there was a person sleeping being underneath them. After a few more moments, she brought her hand   
up, and brushed some leaves away from the pile. Immediately, a small male child leapt out and within moments, had   
a knife at her throat. The rest of the hunters and their bows out, and Zoë was in shock. No one, in her two thousand   
years of being in the hunt, was able to get inside her guard with a hunting knife. Thought this young boy had done it,   
much to her and the other hunters surprise.   
The child seemed to be about nine. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were a sparkling sea green. His eyes seemed   
to radiate power, but also, the radiated hurt and sadness. There were tear streaks down his face, and he was   
covered in dirt and grime, as if he had been on his own for days, if not weeks. His face was covered in scratches.   
When the child looked around, he slowly seemed to realize that there were bows aimed at him from all directions, and   
he was currently holding a knife to a teenage girl with a tiara on her head. He slowly lowered the knife and backed   
away, a look of horror on his face.   
"I'm sorry; I thought that you were a monster." He said quietly, almost as if he was losing his voice, or as if he hadn't   
talked in days. After regaining her composure, Zoë crouched back down next to the boy, curious as to what his story   
was .   
"What is your name?" She asked kindly. She could tell that this boy was not normal, even if he was a demigod. He   
had a powerful aura even at his young age, and he was obviously intelligent, given that he had used leaves to cover   
up where he was sleeping, though he probably hadn't anticipated someone tripping on him. Zoë wondered however,   
how he could sleep though someone tripping on him, but notice when someone moved the leaves on top of him. "Perseus Jackson," He responded. "But I like to go by Percy." Zoë nodded and then asked the question that had first   
come into her mind while he had his dagger at her throat.   
"Percy," She said, "Why are you out here alone?" As soon as she asked the question, Percy's face fell, before he   
responded, almost too quiet to hear.   
"My Mother and Father were killed in a car accident about a six months ago. The police think that it is my fault. I ran   
from my uncle's house about a week ago." Zoë was startled by his response, and also a little annoyed. Here was a   
nine year old kid, how could he be responsible for his parent's death, but at the time, it wasn't her biggest worry. Right   
now, even if this was a male kid, she felt bad for him, and also a little responsible for him, given that she had tripped   
over him, and then unburied him from his sleep. Percy finally seemed to realize what was really happening, and a   
look of worry flashed onto his face.   
"Please don't turn me in. I can't go back." He started to cry, before continuing, even quieter than before, so only Zoë   
could hear him. "My uncle beat me, I can't go back, I can't go back, please."   
The rest of the hunters couldn't hear what he had said, but by the look of anger that had come onto Zoë's face, they   
could imagine what he had said. Most of the older hunters were confused. Most of them had been with Zoë in the   
hunt for years, but had never seen her act this way, but they couldn't really be surprised. After all, he was sleeping in   
the open, and had cuts and bruises all over him.   
Zoë thought about the current situation. She felt bad for Percy, especially since he had been beaten at such a young   
age. She wanted to help him, even in a small way, but she wasn't sure how Artemis would react.   
Artemis?   
Where was Artemis?   
Zoë stood up abruptly, startling everyone standing around her, and looked around for Artemis. She didn't see her in   
the immediate area, and became a little worried. The hunters had gotten distracted, and Artemis kept on going, and it   
was her fault. She sent a prayer to Artemis, asking her to come to where the hunters were, and in seconds, Artemis   
flashed in behind Zoë, a look of slight annoyance on her face, causing all the hunters to turn around.   
"What is going on?" She asked "And why did you stop following me?"   
Phoebe replied before Zoë could respond. "Zoë tripped." This seemed to annoy Artemis, causing her to glare at Zoë   
"So." She asked impatiently, trying to get to the point.   
"We found something, or rather someone." Zoë said. Artemis looked confused, until Zoë stepped aside, revealing a   
small child looking at Artemis fearfully. Artemis was taken aback. Her hunters, the notorious man haters had stopped   
for a male child, though Artemis had to admit that the child was cute. As she looked, Artemis began to notice the   
marks in his face and clothes, as well as what looked to be the tip of a scar on his shoulder. The child seemed to   
notice where she was looking, and immediately shifter his shirt. Artemis looked back up from the child, and looked to   
Zoë. "Explain." 

The hunters made camp that night right where they had found Percy. Zoë seemed particularly attached to the little   
kid, and begged Artemis to let him join the hunt, even thought he was a male. Artemis still wasn't convinced. She   
knew that this kid couldn't really have any problems with women, especially since he was nine. In all reality, she knew   
who his godly parent was, even if she didn't want to admit it, Poseidon had broken the oath. If Zeus found out about   
the child, he would probably kill him, and even Artemis knew that it wasn't the child's fault that he was born to a Big   
Three member. Even if she hate males, this was a child.   
The hunters decided to keep him with them at least for a while. After a good bit of prodding, they got Artemis to allow   
Percy to stay with them for a few days while she figured out what to do.   
Artemis was quite surprised when Zoë offered for Percy to sleep in her tent. In the two thousand years she had been   
in the hunt, Artemis had decided that she was the one who would never believe that a male could be a good person,   
but she seemed particularly attached to Percy, and it made Artemis happy to see Zoë happy, even if it was around a   
male. Even though Artemis would never admit it, she was inclined to give the boy her blessing, and let him join the   
hunt. She liked the kid more than she would like to admit, and it didn't feel right to leave him out in the open. She   
decided to ask Percy about it in the morning. She slipped into her tent, and fell asleep on her cot, smiling from the   
day's events.   
The next morning, Artemis was woken up by the sounds of a commotion outside. Immediately she thought that Percy   
had done something to Zoë, making her angry. She burst out of her tent after getting dressed quickly, and stopped   
immediately. All of the hunters were gathered around Zoë's tent, and seemed scared. The hunters seemed to notice   
Artemis, and they all turned to her in sync, slightly creeping Artemis out, even though she had seem them do it   
thousands of times. Some of the hunters had tears in their eyes.   
"What is going on?" Artemis asked, directing the question to Phoebe.   
"Milady, its Percy." Phoebe replied sadly. Artemis immediately became worried, something that some of the hunters   
seemed to pick up on.   
"What happed?" She asked.   
"We don't know. Zoë woke up and he was bleeding in his bed. She tried to wake him, but he wouldn't wake up. He is   
still alive, but unresponsive." Artemis then did something that surprised herself. Ignoring the fact that Percy was a   
male and she had never cared for a man, she pushed through the crowd of hunters and into Zoë's tent. When she   
stepped inside, she saw Zoë sitting on the bed that they had gotten for Percy, pressing a large cloth to his stomach.   
Zoë looked up when Artemis walked in, and Artemis was surprised even more. Zoë was crying, but her eyes showed   
that she was furious., though at what, Artemis did not know. Instead of saying anything, Zoë lifted the cloth that she   
had pressed to Percy, revealing a bleeding scar, but this was not something that Artemis had seen before. The scar   
ran from his waist on the left side, all the way across his chest to his right shoulder. The entire wound was open and   
bleeding, as if it was newly formed, even though the skin surrounding the scar showed that the scar had been there   
for a while. She immediately connected the dots. When she had showed up to the hunters after Zoë had called her,   
she had seemed mad, and Artemis now knew why. She realized that Percy probably didn't want anyone to worry, so when he had noticed Artemis looking at his scat, he tried to hide it, but unfortunately, it didn't hide that fact that he   
had been more than beaten.   
Without thinking, Artemis called Apollo, before realizing what she did, and cursing herself for calling him. Within   
seconds, a flash of gold appeared, and Apollo stood in the tent.   
"Hey lil sis, what's up?" Artemis ignored his 'lil sis' comment, and pointed to Percy. Apollo eyes widened and he   
looked from Percy to Artemis with a look of disbelief. Before he could say anything, Artemis snapped at him.   
"Yes, I realize he is a male. I don't care, heal him." Apollo nodded, slightly surprised her snapping at him, and   
crouched next to the cot, and began to work. After a few minutes, he stood up, and turned to Zoë and Artemis, who   
were standing next to each other.   
"He will be fine, the wound just re-opened overnight."   
"Thank you Apollo."   
"You're welcome, but may I ask about why he is here in the first place?" Artemis sighed, before speaking.   
"We found him last night. He was sleeping out in the open after running from his uncle's house after his parents were   
killed in a car crash. He said that his uncle beat him, but now I think he did more than just beat him."   
"Oh, I see," Artemis just rolled her eyes, and Apollo seemed to gain his footing again.   
"Should we tell Zeus?" Apollo asked. Artemis narrowed her eyes.   
"No, he will say with me, and no one will know about him besides the two of us and the hunters. The child is powerful,   
and I will train him with the hunters." Apollo seemed surprised at this, but nodded. He winked at Zoë and flashed out.   
Artemis looked at Zoë, and then hugged her.   
"Don't worry, he will be fine."   
"I hope so." Zoë replied, before composing herself, letting go of Artemis and walking out of the tent, leaving Artemis   
alone in the tent. Completely ignoring her normal rules, she sat down on the bed next to Percy, and whispered to him.   
"Please be ok, Percy, your uncle will pay for what he did to you."


	2. Chapter Two - Uncles

The hunt sat around the middle of the campsite, thinking about the past day or so. After Apollo had come and healed   
Percy, the hunt had calmed down and composed themselves. No one had spoken since then, at least not to anyone   
other than themselves, as some had muttered things to themselves. Artemis had gone and stayed in Zoë's tent, to   
wait for Percy to wake up. The hunters were surprised that she had grown attached to the child, but they had decided   
that they had all grown attached to him. Artemis sat in the tent, thinking about Percy and his uncle. She had decided as soon as he woke up, that she would   
offer him a place in the hunt, though she had to find a way to keep him a secret from the rest of the gods, but had   
come up with nothing so far.   
She was pulled from her thoughts when Percy began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes, and they settled on the   
goddess. He slowly tried to get up, though Artemis put a hand on his shoulder.   
"No, Percy, you need to stay in bed." Percy looked at her confused. He seemed to not yet have noticed the blood   
around him, and the fact that his chest was visible. He looked around for a few seconds, and, just as before, he   
covered himself up by quickly grabbed the blankets on his bed, and pulled them up to his face, which had a look of   
horror on it. Artemis decided not to mention it at the moment; instead, she posed the big question.   
“Percy, I know that you just got here, but I want to ask you if you would be willing to join the hunters, and travel with   
us.” Percy’s face immediately turned apprehensive, making Artemis realized that she may have asked the question   
too soon, but Percy spoke.   
“Why would you want me, I’m just a kid with a few scars?” Artemis sighed.   
“Percy, when Zoë first found you, you were able to get under her guard, even if she was unprepared. In the two   
thousand years that she has been in the hunt, I have never seen someone get under her guard like that.” Artemis   
took a deep breath. “Percy, I’m sure that you are wondering who I am, and what I do.” In response, Percy nodded.   
“Percy, did you ever hear about the Greek gods,” She asked, and in response he nodded. “And I’m sure that you   
have seen that there seem to be monsters that shouldn’t exist, right.” Again, he nodded.   
“This may be a shock, but those gods and goddesses still exist, and they wonder the world, and still rule over their   
domains.” To Artemis’s surprise, Percy didn’t look at all shocked. Instead, he just mumbled under his breath that he   
wasn’t surprised. He thought about it for a few seconds, before speaking again.   
“Okay, so who are you.”   
“I am Artemis.” Artemis again expected Percy to be surprise, but again he didn’t seem like it bothered him.   
“So you are the goddess of the moon and hunt, right?” Percy asked.   
“Yes, I am, how did you know, that’s not something that they teach most kids?” Artemis asked.   
“My mom.” Percy responded quietly. “So what does this have to do with me?” He asked.   
“Percy, I don’t know how to put this, but you are a demigod. You are the child of a mortal and a god.” At this, Percy   
seemed surprise. “I cant be, I knew both my mother and father. I couldn’t be the child of a god.” Artemis looked at him   
sadly.   
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but your father was not your birth father. Your birth father is Poseidon, god of the sea.”   
Tears began to well up in Percy’s eyes, and he started to cry. For a few minutes, Percy cried into Artemis’s shoulder,   
shedding tears for his parents, and the life that he had been lied to about. Slowly, he began to regain his composure. They continued to talk about the gods and Percy’s family for a while, before Percy finally seemed to accept his new   
life as a demigod, but it was clear that Percy wasn’t happy that his real father couldn’t have been there for him. After   
a few more minutes of talking, Artemis posed the question again, and explained what that entailed for Percy. When   
Artemis mentioned about forsaking the company of men, it seemed that Percy was fine with that. When Artemis   
questioned why, Percy looked down, before speaking incredibly quietly.   
“My uncle raped me.” Artemis was stunned. How could a man do that to a child, especially another male?   
After another round of Percy crying, Artemis convinced him to join the hunt, even if she wasn’t sure what was going to   
happen. She told him the oath, even though it was meant for only females, but it seemed to work anyway. Artemis   
accepted the oath, but she was going to wait on the immortality part of the oath until Percy was older. When she   
accepted the oath, Percy began to glow with the familiar silver aura that accompanied a hunter, but instead of just   
stopping at the glow, it seemed to encompass him for a few seconds.   
When the glow faded, Artemis looked at Percy in shock. Instead of his old jet black hair, his hair now was a slightly   
lighter shade of black, almost really dark silver, but what surprised her most were his new eyes. While he had kept his   
sea green eyes, they now had flecks of silver in them. He had grown a few inches, and seemed a little bit more built,   
but he was still a child, just now he was a larger child. While she continued to look at him, she noticed that his aura   
had changed. It now was more powerful, and seemed to be a combination of the aura that he had from Poseidon,   
and also the aura that the hunters had. He was dressed in the average hunter’s uniform, silvery camo-pants, a white   
shirt, a silver jacket and black combat boots. He had a bow slung over his shoulder, and a say that he didn’t look   
dangerous was an understatement. Percy seemed just a surprised as Artemis was, though he seemed to enjoy   
wearing non-ripped clothing.   
After another quick conversation about the hunters, Artemis lead Percy outside the tent. The hunters looked up, and   
most were taken aback by Percy’s appearance. They all bombarded him with questions, most predominantly if he   
had joined the hunt, which he nodded to. Zoë noticed his apprehension, and the large about the amount of attention   
that he was getting and obviously wasn’t enjoying, and asked the other hunters to back off a little bit, or at least ask   
their questions one at a time.   
After a lot of questions, Artemis told the hunters to pack up the campsite, and that their objective had changed. When   
the hunters asked what their new objective was, all she would reply was “Uncle,” leaving a lot of confused hunters. 

The Hunters and Artemis, along with Percy, walked to the south west, and only two people seemed to know where   
they were going, and that was Artemis, and Percy, surprisingly, though when asked, neither of them would reply.   
After a few hours of walking, they reached the outskirts of a town. They continued to walk into the town, hoping that   
the mist would hide their true identities, until they reached a house near the center of the town. The house itself   
wasn’t anything special, especially because it wasn’t kept very well. It was two stories, and had a small porch. It was   
painted in pealing brown paint, and some of the siding had fallen off. The lawn was unkempt, and held an unhealthy   
amount of weeds. As they walked closer, Percy got closer and closer to Zoë, who he had been walking with. After a   
few more steps, Zoë connected the dots. This was Percy’s uncle’s place, and they were on a mission. As far as she   
knew, all his uncle had done was beat him. Artemis instructed the hunters to position themselves outside the house, and aim their bows at the doors and   
windows. To any regular mortal, it would have looked quite weird, but they didn’t care. Most of the hunters were still   
confused, but followed her orders anyway without asking questions. Artemis called Zoë to her, and along with Percy,   
they walked up to the door. Artemis didn’t even bother to knock, she just opened the door, and walked in, with Zoë   
following her, and Percy hiding behind her legs.   
Sitting on the couch in the living room, which was to the left of the door, were two men, who immediately stood up.   
“Hey, what the hell are you doing!” One yelled. He was about forty, and had dark hair, and brown eyes. When Artemis   
didn’t respond, he reached under the coffee table that was between him and Artemis, and pulled out a pistol. In the   
blink of an eye, two arrows imbedded themselves in the wall behind the male. The other male was frozen and shock,   
and the one, who Zoë and Artemis assumed to be Percy’s uncle, wavered a bit before regaining his composure and   
holding his gun up at Artemis. Artemis finally spoke.   
“It wouldn’t be wise to do that Mr. Jackson.” Mr. Jackson, the older one, looked at Artemis in shock.   
“Who the hell are you?” He asked, still with his gun up and pointed at Artemis. He didn’t seem to care much about   
Zoë, and she hadn’t moved since they got here, and he hadn’t noticed Percy yet.   
“I am Artemis, and you, Mr. Jackson, shouldn’t be speaking.” To which, Mr. Jackson responded.,   
“Yeah, and I’m Zeus.” That definitely wasn’t the right thing to say at the moment, because much to his discomfort, an   
arrow flew from Artemis’s bow, and hit Mr. Jackson right in the family jewels, causing him to scream in pain, and drop   
the gun. Artemis took the opportunity to jump over the coffee table, knock the other man out of the way, and pin Mr.   
Jackson to the couch.   
“Do you know Percy?” She asked venomously.   
“What that brat that stole all my money with him living here?” Again, the wrong thing to say. This time, an arrow flew   
form Zoë’s bow, and impaled itself in his right arm, causing another scream of pain. As he screamed, the other man   
tried to get up from where he was positioned, but Zoë turned her bow on him.   
“I assume that you didn’t know about this, so we will let you go. Get out of my site, before you get the same   
treatment.” Zoë hissed.   
Artemis drew a hunting knife, and put it to the man’s throat. The man’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.   
“Percy is now under my protection. For beating him, torturing and raping him, you will receive the worst punishment   
my uncle can think of, say goodbye.” Artemis hissed, before dragging the blade across his throat, and watching the   
light leave his eyes. Percy was crying on the floor, though even he wasn’t sure whether it was out of sadness or   
happiness for that man being out of his life. Zoë was staring at the man, trying to comprehend what she had heard.   
Percy had been raped. How could that have happened? She knew that there was nothing that she could do to the   
uncle anymore, but she knew that she could help Percy, so she ran to him, and engulfed him in a hug. A few   
moments passed, before Artemis stood up, and offered a hand to Percy and Zoë who had sat down on the floor.   
They each took a hand, and stood up, Percy still crying, and Zoë comforting him. They walked outside, and found the hunters surrounding the other man. When Phoebe noticed the three of them, she turned to smack the man, but   
Artemis interrupted her before she could.   
“No Phoebe, he goes free, he did not know what happened.” The hunters reluctantly backed away from the man, and   
he bolted away. Artemis then instructed the hunters to surround the house again, and all at once, they lit flaming   
arrows, and shot them at the house, causing it to go up in flames. They then all walked away without any explanation   
from any of the three that were inside. Not one of them had spoken since Artemis had instructed Phoebe to leave the   
other man alone. Percy just stared ahead with tears still in his eyes, while Zoë lead him out of the town and back into   
the wilderness, walking towards the mountains.   
No one spoke, and to some, it would have seemed like Artemis was mad at the hunters, but they knew better than   
that. Whatever had happened in the house was not good, and no one wanted to bring up the events, so instead, they   
all just focused on putting one foot in front of another, not once looking back.


	3. Chapter Three- A New Life

To say that the next few weeks for Percy was weird would be an understatement. The hunters had not known why they went to that house that day, nor did they know that Percy taking the oath had resulted in his appearance change. For the most part, everyone was happy. All of the hunters enjoyed having Percy in camp, and even more enjoyed the idea that Artemis and Zoë could have a softer side towards men.   
All of the Hunters knew the story of how Zoë came into the care of Artemis, and all of the hunters despised Hercules for what he did to her. Over the few thousand years that some of the Hunters had known Zoë, they had never seen her as happy as she was when she was with Percy, and also, the few weeks that they had known Percy, they had seen him in every mood from terrified to quite angry, but he was always happy with Zoë around. They had developed a very strong friendship. Even Artemis was surprised at how friendly they were with each other.   
Over the past few weeks, the hunt had traveled across the country from where they were in Colorado, to the edge of Long Island. Artemis had told the Hunters that they needed to go to Camp Half-Blood, much to the displeasure of the Hunters, and to the confusion of Percy. When Artemis had announced this, Percy had asked what the camp was.   
“Camp Half-Blood is a place for people like you to go. Demigods go there to train and survive.” Percy’s face fell as he thought that she was telling him that his time in the Hunt was over. Noticing this, she kneeled down next to him.   
“No Percy that’s not what I meant. You are a part of the Hunt and will stay with us no matter what.” At that Percy’s face returned to its normal look, with a sparkle of happiness in his eyes.   
The Hunters walked towards the camp, most filled with dread. They were needed at the camp because Chiron was needed at a conference of some sort, something to do with parties. Zeus had asked for the Hunters to come and help organize the camp for the few days while Chiron was gone. As they approached, Zoë suddenly stopped, and called to Artemis.   
“Milady?” She asked.  
“Yes Zoë.” Artemis replied.   
“What are we going to do with Percy, he is a male and part of the Hunters? It would raise suspicion if there was suddenly a male in the Hunters.” Artemis thought about this for a moment. She hadn’t considered that, and was glad that Zoë had brought it up, as it would lead to more questions than she would like to have to answer. An idea popped into her head, and she smirked slightly, thinking about what the reaction was going to be.   
“Percy, can you please come here.” She called. Percy walked up to the front of the hunters, and stood nervously in front of Artemis, as he wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She smirked slightly, before a sliver light encased Percy. When it died down, everyone, including herself, gasped. She had expected it to work, but did not expect it to work that well.   
Standing where Percy had been standing, was now a girl about the age of ten. She had long, silky black hair like Zoë’s, which was braided down the side of her head. Her face had stern appearance, with slightly upturned cheekbones. Her eyes were a piercing sea green, infused with specks of silver that gave off an appearance of touch me and you will die. The girl was beautiful, in the same way that her eyes were. Touch me and you will surely die. She was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the hunters, except for the fact that there was a sword sheathed at her side. When Zoë saw the sword, she almost fell over.   
The sword sheathed at the girls side came from her, the sword that had set her on her journey to the hunters; At her side, as Anaklusmos, Riptide, the current that takes one by surprise. Zoë had no idea where she got the sword, but right now, that wasn’t her biggest concern. She turned and looked at Artemis, and saw that see seemed just as shocked as the rest of the hunters.   
“Milady, where is Percy.” She asked, getting more concerned by the second.   
“I’m right here” The girl said, before her eyes widened, and she clamped her hand over her mouth. Artemis regained her composure and smirked, quite pleased with how the appearance change had worked. She had never tried it on anyone other than herself, but was happy at how ‘Percy’ ended up.   
“I thought that it would be suspicious if a male was in the Hunters, so I temporally changed Percy’s appearance to match that of the rest of the Hunters, but I must say, I am quite surprised at how well it worked. I also believe that I also gave him the ability to change his appended from his regular appearance to this one whenever he wants.” The Hunters looked at Percy in shock. Percy himself looked just as shocked. After a moment, he flashed silver, and he reverted back to his regular appearance. He smiled, and looked at Artemis.   
“Thank you Milady. I’m not sure how I feel about being able to change to be a female, but I will gladly accept.” He said, before running up and giving Artemis a hug, surprising her. After a moment, she hugged him back.   
“You are quite welcome, but I believe that if we are to enter the camp, you need to change back.” She said, and Percy nodded, and was surrounded by silver, before he was back in his female appearance.   
They were about to start walking again when Zoë spoke suddenly.   
“Andromeda” The hunters turned and looked at her like she was crazy.   
“What, we can’t call him Percy, can we. I thought that Andromeda is a good name.” The Hunters were surprised, but nodded. Percy came up to Zoë and hugged her.   
“I like that name.” He said. Zoë smiled, and they continued on their way to camp. They passed the boarder and walked into camp.

As they walked into camp, Percy looked around in wonder. He had never seen something quite like it. There were strawberry fields, next to a building that was smoking, next to twelve cabins, arranged in a ‘U’ formation, next to a climbing wall with lava poured down it. He saw satyrs, and lots and lots of people, more demigods, he supposed. They walked to the big house that was sitting next to the strawberry fields. It was a large farmhouse, painted blue with a wrap-around porch. Standing on the porch was a man. Well, a man put it kindly. From his waist up, he looked like a regular man, but from the waist down, he was a white stallion. Percy was impressed, and also a little scared, as he had never seen anyone like it, though he assumed that it was a Centaur, his mother had taught him a little Greek mythology when he was young. The thought of his mother almost brought tears to his eyes, but he managed to keep them at bay. Zoë leaned down and spoke in his ear.   
“That’s Chiron. Don’t worry; he is really nice, for a man anyway.” She said with a slight smirk. Percy just nodded and continued to follow Artemis towards the house. When they arrived, Chiron noticed them.   
“Ahh, Lady Artemis, it is good to see you.” He said, lowering his head in a bow.   
“As it is you Chiron. We are ready whenever you need us.” Artemis replied. Chiron nodded, and looked around the hunters. When his eyes fell upon Percy, they widened and he looked back up at Artemis.   
“I see that you have a new hunter in your ranks. May I ask what her name is?” The Hunters snickered a little, but hid it well.   
“Her name is Andromeda.” She responded. Her tone made it clear that the topic wasn’t up for discussion. Chiron seemed a little taken aback by her tone, but nodded none the less.   
“Thank you for coming girls. I need to get going, Lady Artemis knows what to do.” Chiron said, before waving a good by and heading off to who knows where. Artemis led the hunters to the Artemis cabin but as they walked, they slowly lost Hunters, as they went off to do things that they needed/wanted to do. As they walked, things took a turn for the worse. Artemis had noticed that a lot of the boys around camp had been looking at ‘Andromeda’ and it was obvious that Percy didn’t like the attention that his appearance was getting him. Most of the hunters had dispersed already towards the cabin, and it left only Percy, Zoë, Phoebe, and Artemis walking towards the cabin and as they walked, percy slowly lagged behind, trying to take everything in. As they headed to the cabins, two boys, Ares kids by the looks of them, came up to Percy and started harassing him, trying to get him to come with them. It again was quite obvious that Percy was uncomfortable. As Artemis noticed this, she overheard the current conversation that was ensuing.   
“Hey, want to come with us little one, we can teach you some tricks with a sword.” The older boy said, obviously not realizing that it was a hunter he was talking too, though it was plainly obvious. Percy shook his head. They asked the question again, this time more seriously, and they got the same response. Instead of taking no for an answer, they tried grabbing him, which did not end up well for them. Unannounced to them, Zoë and Phoebe had snuck up from behind and right as they went to grab Percy, they each received an arrow to the back of the knee. Artemis had to stifle a loud laugh, but it was obvious that Percy was quite disturbed by the events, and looked to be at the point of tears. Once Zoë was finished with the two Ares kids, who didn’t really look like kids anymore, she ran back over to Percy and gave him a hug, whispering soothing words to him. She led him back over to where Artemis was standing, and waited for Phoebe to come back. When she came, the four of them walked into the cabin.  
When they walked into the cabin, Percy immediately broke down. The other three hadn’t seen Percy break down like this, and were quite worried about him, even Phoebe, who wasn’t very good at reading emptions could tell that this was not something to be taken lightly. After a few minutes of constant crying, Percy clammed down enough to talk.   
“I’m sorry.” He said though small sobs. Artemis sat down next to him on one of the beds and put an arm around him.   
“You have nothing to apologize for Percy.” She said kindly.   
“I tried to ignore it, but it reminded me of my uncle.” He spoke it barely audible, but still loud enough for all of them to hear. Artemis and Zoë knew what he was talking about, but Phoebe didn’t. She sent Zoë a confused glance, and Zoë mouthed later.   
After a few more moments of comforting, Percy was finally able to speak without any hiccups. Artemis left with Phoebe, leaving Zoë in the tent with Percy. She knew that over the years they would develop a great relationship with Percy, but for right now, he seemed more comfortable with Zoë. Artemis knew that she enjoyed having Percy in the hunt, and was glad for the change that Percy brought to the Hunt, and how the hunters felt about having him in the Hunt. She was excited for what the future could bring.


	4. Chapter Four - Doubts

The hunt continued to stay at Camp for a few weeks, waiting for Chiron to come back, and because of the timing, a capture the flag game had been planned and everyone was excited, well, all the hunters were excited. Over the time at camp, Percy had developed some of the mannerisms of the hunt. He began to understand even more that most of the males in the camp were jerks, and he had started to enjoy how the rest of the hunters treated the males around camp, but he was silently worried about himself. While he was at camp, he was always in his female form, making it easy for him to be with the hunters, as he didn’t have to worry about how he acted, but he was worried what would happen when they left camp. Artemis and Zoë had noticed a change in Percy’s behavior towards most of the hunt, as if he was slightly scared of the hunt, even though to the two of them, it didn’t seem possible, so for as long as it wasn’t a problem. The only problem with that was that it seemed like a constant problem.   
Without knowing it, Percy had slowly drifted from the majority of the hunters, until he only seemed comfortable with Zoë, Artemis, and Phoebe, the three of them having the biggest influence over him, and had helped him adjust to being within the hunt.   
When the hunters would head to dinner, most of the time, Percy would walk behind them, and while they were eating, he wouldn’t talk, and at other times, he would just hang out in the shadows. Over time, this became worrying to Zoë and Artemis, and finally after about a week of this, went to confront Percy about it. They had just eaten dinner, and the hunters were heading to the campfire, to prepare for another Capture the flag game on the following Friday, the third one while they were there. As they walked, Zoë and Artemis both noticed that Percy wasn’t there with them, causing them to both to worry greatly. They felt bad that they hadn’t confronted him about his behavior, and they were worried about where he was.   
After some searching, they found him sitting upon the top of the Zeus’ fist surprisingly in his male form, starting at the sky above him. Artemis and Zoë sat down on either side of him. If Percy noticed, he didn’t say anything. Artemis and Zoë shared a look, and then looked down at Percy, before both of their hearts broke for him. His eyes were red and puffy, and his eyes, which Zoë found absolutely beautiful, seemed to be broken and lifeless, even though he was still alive. Zoë had no idea what could have caused this, but sadly, Artemis did. She suddenly understood what he was feeling. She knew that he felt that he was not really a part of the Hunt, as if he was just a person in the shadows. He saw what the hunters did to the men around them, and felt as if he changed back to his male form, the form that he is more comfortable in, that he would be treated the same as the males around camp.   
Zoë watched the expression on Artemis’s face turn from one of sadness, to one of a little bit of guilt. She still didn’t understand why, but she knew that she needed to comfort Percy. She slowly pushed him up, and pulled him into a hug, but he tensed. Zoë frowned at this.   
“Percy,” Artemis said softly, “What’s wrong?”   
“I can’t be a part of the hunt. I’m a male, what happens when we leave camp and I live with you, ill just get ignored and beaten.” Percy said softly, his voice cracking by the end. After he finished speaking, he broke down into sobs. Zoë hugged him tighter, feeling horrible at the prospect of Percy not wanting to be in the hunt. Artemis and Zoë shared a look, before Artemis brought her hand up to Percy’s face, and wiped the tears from his face, and turned his face to face her.   
“Percy, you are as much a part of the hunt as Zoë is. Just because you are the first male in the group does not mean that we will abandon you or hurt you.” Artemis took a deep breath. “Percy, even though you have only been part of the hunt for a few weeks, you are like a little brother to me. We will love you like family, I promise.”   
Percy looked down. “I’ve heard that before.” He said softly. “My uncle.”   
Zoë looked shocked, and then her shock turned to anger, but not at Percy. Her anger turned towards Percy’s uncle. He had promised him a family, but instead, he forced Percy into the complete opposite of a family, even if they lived under the same roof. Zoë immediately knew what to do.   
“Percy, do you know what the river Styx is?” She asked. Artemis gave her a confused look, but Zoë gave her a look that clearly said Give me a second. Percy shocks his head, but did not say anything.   
“It is a river in the underworld that separates the living from the dead. It also can be sworn upon, like a pinky promise, but if you swear on the river Styx, it is tied to your life. If you break it, you die.” Percy looked somewhat appalled at this, but nodded his head slightly, giving her the okay to continue.   
“Percy, I swear on the River Styx that you will always have a real family in the Hunt and that we will never beat you physically or ignore you because you are a male.” Zoë said confidently, and Artemis nodded her head, after figuring out what Zoë said. Thunder boomed, and the oath was sealed. Percy looked shocked.   
“Why would you do that?” He asked.   
“Why!” Zoë said shocked. “Why not? I am part of your family Percy, if I have to put my life on the line for you, then I will.” Zoë said strictly, making sure that he understood. Percy seemed shocked by her proclamation. He looked at Artemis, who nodded.   
“She is right Percy. You are family; I would put my life on the line for you or any of my hunters.” They sat there for a few minutes, before Percy seemed to cheer up a little.   
“Thank you.” He said quietly, and then the conch horn sounded. Percy stood up, and offered his hand to Artemis and Zoë. They booth took his hand and stood up, only to get pulled into a hug. They hugged Percy back for a moment, before he pulled away, changed into his female form, and took their hands, before dragging them towards the dinning pavilion, all three of them feeling much better than before. 

Everyone was chatting in the dinning pavilion, waiting for Artemis to start the capture the flag game. No one was more excited to be there than Percy. After his talk with Artemis and Zoë, he seemed much more confident while in the presence of the hunt, even if it was still a little weird for him. The day after his talk with Artemis and Zoë, Phoebe had walked up to him crying after lunch, and gave him a hug that almost broke his chest. Percy was absolutely bewildered by this, but let it slide for the moment. After a few moments of not being able breath, Artemis had walked up to them and pulled them apart. Phoebe kneeled down next to Percy and said,   
“I’m sorry for the life that you had to live and am happy know that you are with us. I will never let anyone hurt you, got that.” Percy looked confused for a moment, before he figured out that Zoë or Artemis must have told her about his uncle and the talk that they had the night before. Percy nodded and smiled, before engulfing Phoebe in a hug, and then turning around, and leading Phoebe to the archery range.   
The dinning pavilion instantly calmed down when Artemis stood up at the head table, while everyone waited for what she was about to say.   
“Campers, Hunters, you know the rules. No miming, killing. All magic items are allowed. Hide your flags!” The entire pavilion shouted, and everyone ran out towards the forest. Percy joined Artemis as she slowly walked towards the forest to judge the game.   
“What do you want me to do?” He asked. She looked thoughtful for a moment, before speaking.   
“Follow Zoë, until the stream. Stay at the stream and guard it, do not let any campers through.” Percy nodded, and ran up to join Zoë, who was walking next to Phoebe. The two older girls nodded towards Percy, and directed him to the river when he asked about the stream. He stood at the stream, bow drawn, waiting for the game to start. He didn’t really have time to be nervous because as soon as he stopped moving, the conch horn sounded, signaling the beginning of the game.   
Percy waited for a moment, until he saw some of the Ares campers heading towards him. He steeled his nerves as they approached, as he knew that they would probably tease him. As they approached, he saw their faces light up in delight at seeing that the only person in the way was the newest huntress.   
“Hey girl, get out of our way.” One of the older looking boys spoke, but instead of being intimidated like the boy wanted, Percy just stood his ground, completely ignoring him, as if he didn’t even hear him. The kid pushed Percy, but instead of falling to the ground, Percy’s instincts took over, as if it had happened a million times before, which it hadn’t. Percy reached out, and grabbed the kids arm, and in one swift movement, swung the arm down forcefully, right down into his family jewels. The kid doubled over in pain, while the other kids looked on now in a little bit of fear. Percy had no idea how he did it, be he was quite happy with himself for the moment, though it only lasted a moment. One of the other kids glared at Percy,  
“I hear your name is Andromeda. Well Andromeda, you will pay for that.”   
All three of the other kids drew their weapons, each with a sword. They all advanced at once, leaving their hurting companion on the ground. The three goons all swung their swords at once, leaving only one option for Percy. Diving backwards to avoid the swords, he stepped into the river. He immediately felt an energy boost from the river.   
The three goons growled at Percy, and advanced towards the river, not knowing Percy’s parentage. At once, they all stepped into the river. Percy concentrated, and felt the familiar tug in his gut, and the river around him exploded, startling the goons in front of him. Artemis had helped him a little with his powers as they traveled to the camp, so he was pretty good with them, but even though they were pretty powerful, he was not anywhere close to happy with them.   
When the river exploded, the water wrapped around the legs of the goons, trapping them in spot, even as the struggled to remove themselves from the hold of the water. Percy stepped out of the river, and felt his energy drop, but he didn’t care. In one swift movement, he slashed a hunting knife across the backs of each of the goons, removing them from the game. The only goon left was the one that he had hit in the family jewels, who was staring at Percy in complete anger, but his eyes gave away his fear. He stepped towards Percy, but froze after the first step, as Percy had his bow out and aimed at the kids’ crotch. The kid stared at Percy, before stepping backwards, and running away, just as the horn sounded. Percy looked to his left, and found most of the hunters staring at him in shock, while Artemis and Zoë looked at him with pride.   
“What?” He asked.   
“The game ended right about when those boys approached you, but we hid in the trees and watched.” Percy put two and two together, and figured out why most of the hunters were staring at him in shock. Only Zoë and Artemis knew that he was a child of Poseidon, and that he had slowly been training his powers. After a moment of stunned silence, the hunters ran towards Percy and tackled him in a hug; proud that their ‘little brother’ had taken out four Ares kids in his first capture the flag game. They all walked back to the cabins, most of the conversation about Percy’s fight with the four boys. Really for the first time, Percy felt like he was really a part of the Hunt, and not just an outsider who happened to travel with them, and it was a feeling he enjoyed.


	5. Chapter Five - Gifts

Years passed for Percy and the hunters. To them, it seemed like very few, but in reality, it was almost a quarter of a century. Percy had taken the immortality part of his oath when he turned thirteen, the same age as Zoë was when she took the oath. The hunters had prospered in the time that Percy had been with them. They had gained a few more hunters, and only lost one, a young mortal girl, during a fight with a Hydra that they had ran into.   
Percy had still been kept a secret from the other gods. Whenever they were required at a council meeting, at Camp, or anywhere where the gods could see them, Percy would be Andromeda, a mortal that had joined the hunt. None of the gods were suspicious of him, as they knew that mortals could join the hunt. There were only four gods that knew of Percy’s really story, Apollo, Hermes, who would visit the Hunters to bring news, Hestia, as she just knew, and of course Artemis.   
Artemis still thought of Percy as her little brother, and it had rubbed off on Apollo too. After ten years, Artemis and Apollo seemed to become better siblings to each other, fighting less, and in general, just being better siblings. The council asked numerous times why they seemed to get along better, but each time, they would receive the same answer. That the two of them had decided that they needed to get along better for the sake of the council, along with the sake for the hunters, and the campers who regularly interacted with the two of them.   
In reality though, it was Percy that brought the two of them together. Apollo had begun to think of Percy as a little brother too, and had started to train him on some of his duties. During the beginning of the training, Apollo had tried to get Percy to take on some of his characteristics with women, but after a slap across the face, courtesy of Percy surprisingly, he didn’t try that again. Percy said that he wanted to be like the hunters, swearing off a relationship for the rest of eternity, but that wasn’t entirely true, even though Apollo didn’t know that.   
Artemis however did. She realized when Percy took his immortality why he took it at thirteen. Over the years, Percy had become very close with all of the hunters, but he became almost attached to the hip of one of them, Zoë. They hadn’t taken on a sibling like relationship, but instead, became best friends, growing closer as time went on. They went to each other if they needed to confess something, if they were having a hard time with something, or if they just needed someone to talk to.   
But Artemis knew that there was something more for the two of them. Normally, if she saw this in one of her hunters, they would be cursed and very possibly killed, but this was Zoe and Percy, so there was not a problem for the two of them. Artemis noticed after about fifteen or so years, that the two of them were falling in love with each other. It was painfully obvious to Artemis, and even some of the hunters had noticed, especially Phoebe.   
When Percy told Apollo that he was talking after the hunters, he was really saying that he was already in love with someone. Apollo had asked Artemis about Percy’s response, and all he received was a knowing smile, something that unnerved him, but he let it slide for the time being. Artemis was happy for the two of them, but knew that they would almost never admit it to each other, so she just let them live with it.   
The hunt was camped on the outskirts of New York City, watching the sun set over the city from a hill not far from Camp Half-Blood. They were there because they had just come from the camp, after having to stop there during the summer solstice meeting. The Hunters had decided that they were going to stop there for the day, when Artemis had told them that she had a surprise for them.   
The Hunt was excited at this, as Artemis never had gifts or surprise for them. They assumed that it was going to be a special hunt, or something, but it was something much more special. Artemis called all of them to the dinning tent, their normal meeting area. When the entire hunt was there, Artemis spoke.   
“Do you all know of what today is?” She asked. The hunters shock their heads. Artemis smiled.   
“Today is the twenty fifth anniversary of a very special person joining the hunt.” She said, and after a few moments of silence, the hunters began to understand.   
Percy had chosen to be in his male form for the meeting, as Artemis had asked him if her idea was alright with him, and he agreed. Percy sat smiling, with Zoë on one side and Phoebe on the other. The two of them forced Percy up next to Artemis, who smiled after this. Artemis wrapped an arm around her little brother, and smiled even wider.   
“Instead of having a large celebration, I am giving the hunt a gift. I have asked Percy about this, and he has agreed with me. I am going to give it to you, and then you will have to figure it out by yourself.” Artemis smirked at the shocked faces of the hunters, and raised her hand, murmuring in Ancient Greek. A soft silver glow surrounded all of the hunters, before disappearing moments after words. Zoë was the first to speak.   
“What?!” She exclaimed. As soon as the glow disappeared, Zoë noticed that her sight, smell and hearing were much better than before. She felt more at peace with the wilderness, as if she was born in it. Percy stood next to Artemis, smirking. He decided that he didn’t want to spoil the surprise for the Hunters, so he didn’t show off the gift, even though he knew what the gift had given them. The hunters sat in silence for a moment, taking in their new abilities, before the all dog pilled on their mistress and Percy, thanking Artemis profusely for what she had given them, even if they didn’t know what it was yet.   
After Artemis managed to get all of the Hunters off her and Percy, she sent them all to sleep, as it was late, but asked for Zoë, Phoebe, and Percy to stay. When all the hunters left, Percy let out a yawn, before smirking at Zoë and Phoebe. To the surprise of Zoë and Phoebe, Percy started to glow silver, and when the glow died down, in his place, there was now a raven black wolf, with the same piercing sea green and silver eyes that Zoe had grown to love on Percy. Zoë and Phoebe stared at the black wolf, before the felt a presence enter their minds.   
Close your mouths; you might catch flies in there. It was the voice of Percy, who seemed to be smirking, judging the slight laugh in his voice. Zoë and Phoebe stared at the wolf, which seemed to be smirking at them. Try it yourself; think of yourself as a wolf. The presence said. Phoebe continued to stare at the wolf but Zoë was curious.   
She thought of herself as a wolf, and a silver light encased her. After a moment, the light died down, and just like Percy, in her place, was a pitch black wolf, with the same volcanic black eyes that Zoë had. Phoebe turned, and yelped when she saw this, before she tried it too, seeing the excitement that the newest wolf’s eyes held. Just like Zoë, she thought of herself as a wolf, and when the silver light died down, another wolf had joined the other two. This wolf had blue eyes, and reddish brown fur, just like Phoebe’s eyes and hair. For a moment, Phoebe and Zoë stood still in their new wolf forms, before another wolf joined the party.   
This new wolf was larger than the three of them, but not by much. It had dark auburn hair, and silver eyes. Artemis had joined them in the form of a wolf. She spoke to the other three in their minds.   
As you can tell, I have given the hunt the ability to change in to the form of a wolf. I thought it would be useful to travel at a faster pace, and to distract enemies. Also, I thought it would be a good way to become a better family, as the pack always stays together. In each of the tents there are new packs for each of the hunters, when we travel, these packs fit on your backs as a wolf, making it very easy to transport the camp. Please tell the others in the morning. While in this from, you will sleep more comfortably to, as you are more at peace with the wilderness. Please go to sleep now. Artemis said, before walking out of the dinning tent, and into her own. Phoebe and Zoë looked at each other, before pouncing on Percy, showing their thanks through their actions like a wolf would.   
After an hour of playing around in their new wolf forms, they walked into their respective tents, Phoebe into the tent that she shared with a few other hunters, and Zoe and Percy into the tent that they had shared since Percy joined the hunt. The two of them decided to sleep in their wolf forms, and so the each curled up on their respective side of the tent, facing each other as they did every night. They fell asleep like that, each curled up on the floor, facing each other.   
The two of them were woken up the next morning at a screech from one of other hunters. After a moment of trying to regain their surroundings, Percy’s eyes widened at the position that they were in. Over the night they had moved closer together, and Zoë head was resting on the chest of Percy. Zoë seemed to notice the position she was in, and was very glad that she was in her wolf form at the moment, because she was sure that she was blushing. She hoped that Percy wouldn’t say anything, and to her relief, he didn’t. Infested, he stood up, turned back into his male human form, and reached a hand out to Zoë. Zoë followed him, turning back into her female form, and grabbing his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.   
Unbeknownst to the other, each of them felt a small spark in their hands when they touched. Neither of them mentioned it, but they both felt it. Instead of talking about it, the two of them rushed out of the tent to find Phoebe, in her wolf form, running around the camp from the rest of the hunters, who had their bows drawn, pointing it at Phoebe. After a moment of staring at the scene in front of them, Zoë and Percy decided to act.   
“Stop! Stop!” He yelled, grabbing the attention of the hunters who were chasing Phoebe. One of the other hunters, Callie, yelled back to him.   
“Why, we found it in our tent this morning, in Phoebe’s bed! It took Phoebe!” She shouted, mortified at the very idea.   
“Have you looked at the wolf closely?” Percy called back to her. She shook her head, and took a good look at the wolf, stopping for a second. He eyes widened when she looked into the eyes of the wolf as it ran past her again.   
“Phoebe?” She asked quietly, but all the hunters who had their bows at the ready stopped and looked at the wolf in shock. They watched as the wolf glowed slightly silver, after a moment, Phoebe stood in place of the wolf, surprising the rest of the hunters, shocking them into a stupor. All of the other hunters turned to Percy, staring at him in shock.   
In response to their shock, Percy smirked. In a second, Percy was in his wolf form, standing in front of the hunters. They all stared at him in shock, before a sliver glow caught their attention again. The stared in shock again at the spot where Zoë had been standing there was now another wolf. The hunters stared at the two new wolfs, before the felt a presence enter their minds, and when it spoke, they recognized it as Percy’s voice.  
You can do it too, you know. Just think of yourself as a wolf, and it will happen. They all stared at the wolf that looked like Percy in shock, until one by one they each transformed into their wolf forms, all being amazed at it. That is when Artemis walked into the camp, and stopped in her tracks. The entire hunt was in their wolves forms, and it looked amazing to her. She asked them all to take back their human forms, and to come with her to the dinning tent. They all followed her instructions, and walked with her to the tent, where she explained everything that she had explained to Zoë, Phoebe, and Percy the night before. All of the hunters were very excited at this, and they all thanked Artemis profusely for the gift. After a few hours of discovering their new forms, Artemis called them all to pack up the camp, as they were heading out on a new hunt. The hunters were all excited about their new method of travel.   
When the camp was all packed up, they all switched to their wolf forms, including Artemis, and their packs were immediately teleported on to their backs, as Artemis said they would be.   
The hunt took off into the forest, with Artemis, Zoë and Percy in the lead; as a pack of wolves, enjoying the new feeling of being part of a pack. 

Years passed after Artemis gave the hunt their gift. No one outside of the hunt, besides Apollo, knew of their new forms. The hunt had excelled in the past years with their new forms, becoming very dangerous when fighting like a pack of wolves.   
A few years after the gift, Artemis had a conversation with the Hunters while Percy was with Apollo. She had asked them what they thought of her making Percy a lieutenant along with Zoë. They had all agreed with Artemis on the idea, and Zoë was ecstatic at the idea of her and Percy working together as the leaders of the hunt. Percy had come back from whatever he was doing with Apollo, and had immediately been shoved into Artemis’s tent, where Artemis and Zoë had been waiting.   
Both Artemis and Zoë had huge smiles on their faces when Percy walked in, and Percy was confused to as why. Artemis had him sit down between her and Zoë, and started to speak.   
“Percy, you have been in the hunt for almost thirty years, serving faithfully and with much love to your sisters in the hunt. You have changed how we looked at the male population, and for that we are thankful.” Artemis took a breath, and it left Percy worried. It sounded like Artemis was saying goodbye, but that wouldn’t make sense, given the huge smiles that adorned her and Zoë’s faces. Artemis saw his worried face.   
“Do not worry, Percy, we are not here to kick you out, in fact it is quite the opposite. After thirty years, of being in the hunt, I have seen how you have taken leadership of the hunt, without being asked too. I asked the hunters their opinion on an idea and they all immediately said yes to it.” Taking another break, to catch her breath, Artemis became almost giddy about what she was about to ask of Percy. She could tell that Zoë was already giddy with excitement, something that she has never seen in Zoë before today.   
“Percy, will you accept the position of co-lieutenant of the hunt, alongside Zoë.” She said finally.   
Percy was flabbergasted at this. They wanted him to lead the hunt with Zoë. He was having a hard time believing that this was really true.   
“If this is a joke, I’ll kill you.” He said, and received an angelic laugh from Zoë.   
“This is not a joke Percy. We really do want you to accept this. Please.” She said, giving him a look that said if you back down, I will hurt you. Percy was still in shock about the question, but he knew that he had to say yes. The hunt had given him a family, and a place which he could call home. He took a deep breath, and nodded. Zoë squealed and attacked him in a hug while Artemis smiled extremely widely. Zoë seemed to notice what she had done, and pulled of Percy, who was looking at her in shock. Zoë’s face reddened, but to her relief, Percy didn’t say anything, instead looked towards Artemis.   
Artemis seemed to notice what Percy was trying to do; trying to remove the attention on Zoë at the moment. Artemis nodded to Percy, and snapped her fingers. A bright flash of light followed, and when it was gone, Artemis and Zoë gasped at Percy. Unlike before, when Percy had accepted his oath into the hunters and had changed a little bit, Percy had one major feature that changed. Instead of his regular eyes, like they had been before, his eyes were now even more multi-colored. Each iris started out piercing sea green at the outer edged, and as they neared the pupil, they became silver, just like Artemis’s eyes.   
Percy was bewildered when he heard them gasp, and turned to look at the mirror that was hanging on the wall of the tent behind him. He gasped when he saw his eyes, but stared in bewilderment at was on his head. Just like Zoë, he was now wearing a tiara, the symbol of a lieutenant of the hunt, though, instead of it being a normal tiara, it had green and silver jewels embedded in the band, and instead of having a peak in the front, it was similar all around, more like a band than a tiara. He turned back to face Artemis and Zoë.   
“When you are in your female from, it will look like Zoë’s, but will still have the green jewels in it. Artemis clarified. Percy was ecstatic at the moment. While he had been in the hunt for years, he was happy now that he had a responsibility to the hunt, not just to be a part of it.   
The three of them talked for a few more minutes, going over the various responsibilities that he now had, and so on, before they decided to let the rest of the hunt know about Percy’s decision. The three of them walked out of Artemis’s tent to find that all the hunters were sitting In front of the then, seemingly waiting for them. When the other hunters saw Percy, with his new band on his head, the all squealed, just like Zoë hand, and attacked him with hugs until he was not visible anymore. That’s when Callie noticed Percy’s eyes, and gasped.   
When the rest of the hunters heard her gasp, they looked at where she was looking, and gasped as well. They were all awed by his new eyes, though Zoë liked them the most. She found them more attractive than before, and was incredibly happy that she considered him her best friend, besides Artemis. She knew that someday she wanted to reveal her feelings towards Percy, but she wasn’t sure how Artemis would take them. She decided thought that she could wait a little longer until she was sure that she had fallen in love with him, and until she was sure that he had feelings for her too. She had received some clues from him, but they were few and far between, so she wasn’t entirely sure, but she was sure that she could wait until she was sure. 

The hunt excelled even further in the following years, under the leadership of Percy, Zoë and Artemis. They had travelled across the US, and even into Canada. The hunt had stayed the same since Percy became the co-lieutenant, and in that time, the hunt had become one of the most dangerous forces within the Modern Greek world. They were able to destroy some of the most dangerous monsters in the world today, and had a reputation on Olympus.   
The hunt was running through the middle of West Virginia as a pack of wolves when Artemis stopped. The rest of the hunt stopped along with her, wondering why they had stopped. Artemis stood still for a moment, before changing back into her twelve year old from. She nodded to the rest of the hunt, and they all changed into their human forms. Artemis whispered to Percy.   
“Change into your female form, we are about to have guests.” Percy looked confused, but nodded. In a moment, he was Andromeda. The moment after he changed, three people walked into the clearing. There were two girls, the older one had spiky black hair, and electric blue eyes, and the younger had blonde hair and grey eyes. The male in their group had blonde hair and blue eyes. As soon as they saw the hunt, the readied their weapons, they were clearly demigods.   
“Who are you?” The girl with the spiky hair asked.   
“Put your weapons down.” Artemis commanded.   
“Why should we, you could just kill us?” The boy asked.   
“Do not talk in the presence of Artemis, boy.” Percy said. The three demigods’ eyes widened, and they all bowed to Artemis.   
“You may stand up. Now, what are your names?” Artemis said kindly. She could tell that they had been wandering around in the wilderness, and they needed a place to stay. This time, the younger girl answered.   
“I’m Annabeth, this is Thalia and this is Luke.”


	6. Chapter Six- Demigods

“I’m Annabeth, this is Thalia and this is Luke.”   
“Well Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke, I suppose that you know who you are, given your response to my name.” Artemis said kindly. The hunts attitude towards men had softened slightly, where they would now give them some time to show their true colors, instead of automatically judging them, but if they showed that they were like most of the male population, their treatment went back to the normal punishment. They were giving Luke a chance.   
“We are demigods, correct?” Annabeth asked, receiving a nod from Artemis. Artemis already knew who their parentage as she looked at them, but was curious as to if they knew. This time, Thalia spoke up.   
“I assume that you know our parentage?” She asked, receiving another nod from Artemis. While Artemis knew who Thalia’s father was, and was not happy at her father’s actions, she knew that it was not Thalia’s fault for her parentage, and so she didn’t judge her from her father.   
“Who are our parents?” Annabeth asked excitedly, and Artemis rolled her eyes at the young demigoddess.   
“Yours is easy, Annabeth. You are a daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.” Artemis said, casing most of the hunt to roll their eyes when Annabeth’s eyes widened. Artemis continued, “Thalia, your father is Zeus, god of the Sky’s, King of the Gods, and Luke, your father is Hermes, god of Thieves and Travelers. Thalia, I would like to talk to you when we are done here, there is something you should know, and also something that I need to ask you.”   
Thalia looked nervous, but nodded. Luke looked angry for some reason, but when Annabeth grabbed his hand, he relaxed and looked down to Annabeth with thanks in his eyes. After a moment of silence, Artemis spoke again.   
“Hunters, set up camp. We will give Thalia, Annabeth and Luke a place to rest. Thalia, would you please follow me?” Thalia nodded in response. Artemis walked to the first tent that was set up, her tent, and invited Thalia in. She called Zoë and Percy in, and they sat down, along with Thalia and Artemis, on one of the bear skin rugs that lined the floor. Once they were all settled, Artemis spoke.   
“Thalia, you know your father is Zeus, right?” Thalia nodded.   
“I need you to know something. Since your father is the king of the gods, he had a pride problem. There was a prophecy told centuries ago, and it is possible that it refers to you.”   
“Wait, prophecy?” Thalia asked, confused greatly. Artemis nodded.   
“Yes, I cannot tell you the prophecy yet, but it is very important. Your father forced Poseidon and Hades into an oath not to have any demigods due to this prophecy. You break this oath.” Thalia looked appalled at this. It wasn’t her fault that her father was Zeus, why did she have to take the blame. She could see lots of problems occurring with her presence.   
Then Thalia thought about what she knew of Artemis. She was The goddess of the moon, and the hunt. Her father was Zeus. They were sisters, but if Thalia wasn’t supposed to be born, does that mean that Artemis will kill her? Artemis must have seen Thalia’s face, and she laughed.   
“I will not kill you Thalia, in fact, I want to help you. I would like to offer you a place in the hunt.” Thalia was shocked. Artemis wanted for her join her hunt. It sounded like a great idea, but what about Luke. What about Annabeth?   
“Will I be able to see Luke and Annabeth ever again?” She asked.   
“You will be able to see them, but not be with them. Annabeth is too young to join the hunt, and Luke is a male, he cannot be in the hunt.” Zoë spoke up. She threw Percy a look, showing him that he was accepted.   
“Why can’t Luke join the hunt?” Thalia asked, and Zoë snorted.   
“He is a male; he will betray or hurt you in the end.”   
Percy sat next to Zoë trying not to let what she was saying get to her. He knew that she wasn’t talking about him, but it still hurt when she said those things. Zoë kept throwing him looks, making him feel a little bit uncomfortable, but it was clear that she was telling him that she wasn’t talking about him.   
“Luke would never do that!” Thalia exclaimed, looking appalled at the thought. Zoë scoffed.   
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, just you wait.”   
“Luke is a good guy! Why do you think he would betray us?” Thalia yelled, getting wound up at Zoë’s words.   
“All men will do it at some point, unless they were raised right. I have only met one man like that.” Zoë responded. “Join the hunt, and you won’t have to deal with him. He will betray you.” Thalia stood up, and looked at Artemis.   
“I’m sorry, Lady Artemis, but I cannot join the hunt if I have to deal with this,” Thalia pointed to Zoë. “all the time. Luke is a good man, and would never do that.” Thalia nodded towards Percy, and walked out of the tent. Artemis sat their staring intently at Zoë who looked a little guilty.   
“Thalia would have been a good hunter, I could feel it.” Artemis said, directing it at Zoë. “I know that you have had bad experiences Zoë, but try to see it from her perspective. Luke probably helped her out. Hopefully he will turn out to be a good man, but we do not know. I must go and talk to Phoebe; hopefully they will have camp set up.” Artemis stood up, and walked out of the tent, leaving Percy and Zoë sitting on the floor. Percy was silent, and I caused Zoë some worry.   
“You know that I wasn’t talking about you, right.” Zoë said softly. Percy didn’t say anything. Zoë looked up. “Please Percy, I wasn’t talking about you.”   
“I know Zoë, it’s just still hard being the only male in the Hunt, and to hear you guys talk about other males like that.” Percy mumbled. Zoë reached over and grabbed his hands, despite how much her brain told her it was wrong.  
“You will never be like the men we talk about. You are undoubtedly the best man in existence, and you being in the hunt are where you belong, and I would not have it any other way. You are my best friend; please know that we would never include you in our talks.” Zoë said softly, trying to convey how she felt, but Percy didn’t catch on. He looked up and smiled at Zoë.   
“You are my best friend as well, I know you would never talk about me, and sometimes I just need to be reminded of that, because it is sometimes hard to remember what the hunt normally does.” Zoë nodded to this explanation. The two of them spent some time sitting in Artemis’s tent, before Artemis walked into the tent. She saw Percy and Zoë sitting on the floor talking, and smiled. She then cleared her throat to let the two of them know that she was there. They both turned around, and smiled at Artemis.   
“It is time for us to move camp.” Artemis said.   
“What about Thalia, Annabeth and Luke, they can’t travel with us?” Percy asked confused to as why they would be moving with visitors. They had kept their travel method a secret for years, why would they reveal it now?   
“They have left the camp. Thalia was slightly hurt by Zoë’s words.” Artemis said. Zoë looked guilty and looked down, but Artemis bent down, and pulled her face up by the chin. “There was nothing wrong with what you said. I sensed a great deal of unrest in the boy, and it does not bode well with his future, but I could not bring myself to tell Thalia that, as she trusts him. They have left camp, and I have contracted Chiron to send a satyr to gather them.” Percy and Zoë nodded. They knew that the demigods would have a slight problem with the hunters, and so they didn’t bother to be worried about them leaving, even though Zoë still felt bad about what she said to Thalia, though she decided to not let it bother her, as it was not her biggest problem at the moment.   
The hunt got ready to leave, but right before they could set out, a low growl was heard throughout the clearing that the hunt was previously camped in. The Hunt quickly looked around, trying to see if it was one of them playing a prank on them, but none of the Hunters were missing. Percy quickly scanned the area, until he noticed a bush moving in his peripheral vision. He quickly drew his bow, and aimed an arrow at the bush, with the rest of the hunt quickly following their Lieutenant.   
The bush rustled, and Artemis tensed.   
“Oh Styx.” She cursed, “I know this monster, it’s the…” Artemis was cut off when a large thing ran out from behind the bush, startling most of the hunt. Percy released his arrow, and it hit the monster in the head, but it didn’t seem to bother him. The rest of the hunt was in shock that this particular monster was attacking the hunt.   
The Minotaur turned to face Percy, with the arrow still sticking out of his head. Artemis looked down sadly, as she knew that this monster was not something that was going to be easy to fight, but any hope that she had was dashed when even more monsters stepped out of the woods all around them. The hunters looked around, and noticed that they were outnumbered. The Hunters could have taken care of the monsters by themselves but with all of the monsters and the Minotaur, she realized that she couldn’t really hope for everyone to survive. Even with a goddess on their side, the hunt was most likely not going to fair well against this attack.   
Artemis was brought of her momentary thought process when Percy jumped towards the Minotaur. She wanted to yell at him to leave him be, but it was not going to work, as he was to distracted by not getting impaled by bull-man’s horns to follow any instructions that Artemis was going to yell at him, not that he would listen anyway. After years in the hunt, Artemis had learned that Percy had a very large fatal flaw, personal loyalty. He would not let anyone get hurt if he could help it, even if it endangered himself, and that flaw was at work now.   
All around Artemis, the hunt was fighting off monsters, as they had reacted quicker than her, given that Artemis froze in spot when she saw the Minotaur, not something that she did often.   
Artemis was again pulled out of her thoughts when she was tackled to the side by a dark haired hunter. A spear flew past Artemis and imbedded itself in the tree in front of her. Zoë stood up from the ground where she was, and quickly pulled Artemis up.   
“Go help Percy, we have the rest of the monsters.” Artemis nodded and ran to Percy, who had just side stepped to avoid the Minotaur as it ran past him. Percy had a few minor scratches, but nothing major. Artemis ran to his side.   
“Percy, what did you think you were doing?” Artemis asked as she pulled out her bow and started firing arrows into the Minotaur, even if they didn’t seem to hurt the monster, but insisted it annoyed him.   
“Fighting another monster.” Percy replied with a slight smirk on his face. He knew when he fired the first arrow that he would be in trouble when the fight was over, that is if he survived it. The Minotaur ran again at the pair, and they each sidestepped, and fired an arrow into the bull-man. This time, it made the Minotaur mad. It roared and turned around slowly, and charged. Artemis was able to get out of the way but Percy was trapped.   
When Percy had side stepped the pervious time, he had backed himself up against a tree, with two other trees on the other side. He had no options this time, other than going up, but he wouldn’t be able to climb fast enough to get out of the way. A stupid plan formed in his head, one that would surely get him hurt, but would save the hunt, which were slowly dwindling down the number of other monsters. Artemis was firing arrows into the Minotaur, but it ignored them.   
The bull came barreling towards Percy at breakneck speeds.   
“Percy!” Artemis shouted, trying to get his attention. Unbeknownst to her, Percy had a plan. When the bull was a few feet in front of Percy, Percy jumped as high as he could. The Minotaur barreled into the tree, imbedding is horn in the tree behind Percy.   
Artemis watched as Percy tried to avoid the bull. He sighed with relief at seeing that Percy had jumped out of the way, and they now had an easy way to kill the Minotaur, which was struggling to get its horn out of the tree.   
However, Artemis’ relief was short lived when she saw Percy land on the ground, and immediately collapsed, with blood pooling from a wound that Artemis couldn’t see. Artemis started to run towards Percy, but realized that there was still a creature struggling to free itself from the tree. She turned towards the monster, and vented the anger that she had at her “Little Brother” being hurt by cutting the head off of the Minotaur, causing it to disintegrate into golden dust, leaving one horn still embedded in the tree.   
By this point, there were only a few more monsters left to kill, and the hunters expertly took care of them. They all looked around to find the Minotaur gone, and Artemis running towards a body on the ground. Zoë was the first to notice, and immediately ran to help.   
Artemis slid to a stop next to Percy to find him conscious, but in a lot of pain. His face was contorted into a grimace, and his eyes were closed as he dealt with the pain. Artemis still couldn’t tell what was wrong, until she gently rolled him over onto his back. Zoë ran up and knelt down next to Percy, before gasping at the wound in his thigh.   
When Percy had jumped up to get out of the way of the Minotaur, he had managed to get mostly out of the way, but the Minotaur had managed to get his right leg, stabbing a horn through the side of his thigh that was currently bleeding profusely. Zoë started to cry at the wound, as she was sure that it was fatal, given the amount of blood that had already pooled by his leg.   
As Percy fought to stay conscious, he felt himself be rolled over, and then someone gasp. He knew that the wound that he had received was bad, but wasn’t sure how bad as he couldn’t open his eyes due to the pain. He heard someone sobbing next to him, and recognized the sound of Zoë crying. He managed to reach his hand up and grab what he figured to be a hand. He was thankful when the crying stopped abruptly, and someone squeezed his hand.   
“Percy?” He heard Zoë say. “Percy, stay awake, please.” Percy tried to respond, but he couldn’t form any words. He felt something be poured onto his leg and pain exploded in his leg. He figured that it was nectar, but he didn’t get to do anything as he lost the fight for consciousness and drifted into blackness. The last thing he felt was someone grab his hands even tighter, and then felt himself be lifted up, and then he lost his consciousness.


	7. Chapter Seven - Heartfelt

The Hunt sat in silence waiting for some word from their lieutenant on the condition of Percy. It had been a few hours from the attack, but they hadn’t heard a word from Zoë or Artemis since then. Early on in their waiting, they had whispered and shared their worries, and tended to the small wounds they had received, but after a while they stopped talking.   
If you asked them, they would say that they were not worried about Percy, but in reality, they were terrified about what would happen if they didn’t have Percy as their second lieutenant. Even if he wasn’t a normal hunter, they still considered him family. He was their only brother in a group of sisters. He was the humorous one and the sarcastic one in times of danger and seriousness. He was their rock and their base. In essence, he was their glue. Before he came to the hunt, they had fun and joked around, but it was always more of a clam thing than now. Now it was something that made the whole hunt crack up in laughter, and right now, none of that laughter was happening.   
Zoë sat on the bed next to Percy as she waited for him to wake up. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was worried for him. He had lost a lot of blood from the wound that he suffered to his thigh, and she didn’t know if he was going to survive. Artemis had been sitting with her as she waited, but she had left to tend to the rest of the hunt who had been strangely silent since the battle.   
Zoë knew that she had fallen for Percy. She had fallen for him years ago, but as she sat on the edge of his bed, as he was very possibly dyeing, she realized that she didn’t know what she would do without him. He was her best friend, and the person that she relied on. In all her years of being in the hunt, she had never had someone like that. It seemed to her throughout all those years that everyone else relied on her, but she never had someone to lean on, but that had all changed, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.   
Zoë promised herself that if she ever saw the Minotaur again that she was going to shove an arrow where the sun doesn’t shine, no matter if Percy lived or died. With his head resting on the pillow, his face looked peaceful. He was still in his female form as he had not had time to change between the whole incident with Thalia and the hunt being attacked. His long silky black hair was spread out underneath him, framing his face. His eyelids were closed, much to Zoë’s annoyance. He had caught herself staring into his eyes too many times than she would like to count, but she couldn’t deny herself that they were undoubtedly beautiful. The sparkling sea green transitioning into the blinding silver captivated her.   
Zoë was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice Artemis walk back into the tent and sit down next to her. Artemis reached over and grabbed her hand, startling Zoë.   
“Deep in thought are we?” Artemis asked. Zoë nodded, not brining herself to speak. “In all the time that I have had you in the hunt I have never seen you so worried.” Artemis spoke again. Zoë looked up and found worry shining in the eyes of her mistress. Again, Zoë nodded, not sure what to say, and then looked into her lap again.   
Artemis pulled Zoë’s head up again, and forced her to look into her eyes. “Zoë, how long have you been in the hunt?” She asked.   
“Over two thousand.”   
“We have been through much together, Zoë, and I know what you are feeling.” Zoë looked alarmed when she said this. It could only mean one thing, and she would not know what to do if what she thought was happening happened. Aremtis looked down to the peaceful face of Percy.   
“I would be wrong if I said that in either form, Percy was not beautiful or handsome. He is the perfect man, and a perfect member of the hunt. I have not regretted my decision to allow him into the hunt, and I became even more positive when I made him your co-lieutenant that he was the perfect male. I know what you are battling with right now.” Artemis paused for a moment, looking at Percy again.   
"Zoë, I know that you have fallen in love with him.” She said quietly. Zoë looked incredibly frightened that Artemis knew that. She knew that now she would have to leave the hunt, as she was breaking the oath.   
“But,” Artemis started. “I must say, I don’t blame you, and I am happy for you. You are like a daughter to me, and I know what is good for you when I see it. I realize now that you each would do anything for each other.” Again, Zoë looked startled, but this time for a different reason. This wasn’t the normal speech that Zoë had heard when Artemis was kicking someone out of the hunt, in fact, it was completely the opposite.   
“While it may take some getting used to, I will allow you the love between you two, and I will allow you to stay in the hunt. While it may not be normal, you are both members of the hunt, and you are both lieutenants, so you deserve to stay in the hunt, as you have done much for us. I am happy to tell you that I give you my blessing.”   
Zoë was staring at Artemis in shock for a few seconds, before shooting up and engulfing Artemis in a bear hug. She started to cry into her shoulder, and Artemis held her as she sobbed. However, these were not tears of sadness, but tears of happiness. Even though she wasn’t sure when she would talk to Percy about this, she was happy to know that she was allowed to in the first place. Artemis held her until she calmed down enough to speak again.   
“Thank you milady.” She said gratefully, her gratitude shining in her eyes.   
“I consider you and Percy to be my sister and brother and to force you to leave the hunt for any reason would case me much pain. You are quite welcome.”   
“Welcome for what?” A groggy voice said from next to them, causing Artemis and Zoë both to jump. They turned and found Percy with his eyes open. He was immediately tackled by an ecstatic Zoë. After a moment of shock Percy smiled. With some amount of discomfort, he managed to hug her back. A moment passed, and Zoë untangled herself from Percy with her checks burning red, but at the moment it didn’t matter. Artemis smiled at the two of them, and chuckled quietly to herself at Zoë’s face.   
“How are you feeling Percy?” Artemis asked.   
“Could be better, but I have been worse.” He said, receiving questioning glances from the other two. In the time that he had been in the hunt, he had not received a wound that had rendered him unconscious, but the look in his eyes told them not to ask, as his eyes were glazed over, seeming lost in a memory.  
Shaking his head, Percy cleared his head. He was curious as to what Artemis and Zoë had been talking about. He decided to ask Zoë later, but before he could say anything else, a head popped into the tent. Phoebe looked into the then, and saw Percy sitting up and alive. Her eyes widened, and she bolted into the tent, and did the exact same as Zoë. After a moment, more and more hunters came into the tent and hugged Percy, until all of them had hugged him. Percy had a huge smile on his face as he stared at his family. They all thanked him for taking a hit to protect them, but he received more than a few slaps to the face for his stupidity of doing it alone, but that didn’t bother Percy. He was with his family, and that’s what counted for him. 

The hunt stayed in the same spot for a few days, deciding that everyone needed a break, and especially because Percy could not walk due to his leg, and as they had discovered, wounds transferred over to their wolves forms. Percy had reverted back to his male for while he was in camp, even though he was bed ridden for most of the time. One of the few times that he was out of the bed was with Zoë. Artemis had gone to a council meeting, and she had given the hunt the day off from doing their normal chores.   
Zoë helped Percy out into a clearing that she had found earlier. They had settled near the edge of a river and so they sat at the bank, with their feet in the cool water, enjoying the serenity around them. There were no clouds in the sky, and they sat next to each other, staring up into the night sky. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours.   
“Thank you, Zoë.” Zoë looked at Percy curiously, wondering why he was thanking her. She hadn’t done anything worth thanking; it had all been him in the fight a few days earlier.   
“For what?” She asked him. Percy seemed hesitant about his next words, and took a deep breath before speaking again.   
“For being there, for being a good friend and helping me though some of the tough times, you are invaluable as a friend.” Zoë looked at Percy to see tears in his eyes. She had noticed a change in his demeanor since the battle, and she didn’t like it one bit. She reached up and softly wiped the tears from his face with her thumb.   
“What’s wrong Percy?” Percy didn’t respond immediately, instead letting more tears fall from his face. In the forty some odd years that he had been in the hunt, she had never seen him like this. He always was the fearless leader, only thinking about others and never himself, but he seemed to have reached the limit. He broke down in tears after a moment. While Zoë did not know why, she decided it was better to not ask at the moment, and just hugged him, comforting him for whatever he needed comforting in.   
Minuets passed while Percy cried into Zoë’s shoulder. He slowly composed himself, and picked himself up.   
“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. Zoë reached up and pulled his chin up until he was looking at her, and then she shook her head.   
“There is nothing to be sorry for, we always need a release at points.” Percy just nodded, trying to not look directly into Zoë’s eyes. Zoe scooted closer to Percy, and put an arm around him, ignoring how wrong it felt. She was a hunter, but this was Percy that she was talking about, and she had Artemis’s approval.   
“What’s wrong Percy?”   
Percy stayed silent for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He did this a few more times. He had no idea how to phrase what he wanted to say. Even with his family in the hunt, he was lonely. He was literally the odd man out, and always felt a little bit awkward. It only hit him hard after his battle with the Minotaur. The hunters had been treating him like their hero, and he didn’t like it. He was their brother, not their hero, he didn’t deserve that praise, and so he had tried to remove himself a little bit from the hunt, being quieter and more closed. And then there was his mother. He hadn’t thought about her in a while, but while he was unconscious, he dreamt of her non-stop. It haunted him the past days, and it was now catching up to him. He had failed to save her when the time had come, and it led to her death.   
“Percy?” She asked again. Percy took a deep breath.   
“I never told you, or anyone. My patents didn’t die in a car accident.” He managed to get those words out, but started to choke up again. He had held onto this for so long that it was hard for him to talk about now, as it brought up more memories than he wanted to dig up, but the look of worry on his best friends face told him that he should continue.   
“They weren’t even in the car at the time that they died,” He started again, “It was my uncle. He attacked us in our house, and he beat my mom and step-dad with a baseball bat. They were both dead within minutes. I had been told to wait outside, but I had snuck in. He ran out of the house after seeing what he had done and I found my parents dead on the floor.”   
Percy started to sob again as memories flooded back into his head. The image of his parents lying dead on the ground, his uncles sadistic face as he beat Percy after that day, the blood on his hands. Zoë hugged him tighter than she had ever before. She knew that this was hard, and she was furious with his uncle, but was glad that Percy was finally telling her. It seemed to weigh down on him.   
After a few minutes of crying, he finally composed himself enough to start speaking again. “I dragged my parents into the car, and tried to drive to the hospital, but crashed on the way. It looked to the police that I had tried to kill my parents by driving them, and they died in the car accident. They believed the evidence, and didn’t investigative because of it. They sent me to my uncle, who just beat me.”   
Percy had started that speech with his voice breaking, but ended it with furry leaking from his presence. Zoë stared at him in shock or a moment, then reached over and pulled him into another hug. He had never told anyone in the hunt about this, even Artemis, but he had just told her first. It made her love him even more, but she still wants sure what to do, even with Artemis’ blessing. She had no idea what to do at the moment, and it worried her, as she had never had to make a decision like this.   
She was about to speak again, when a bright silver flash appeared next to them, and Artemis appeared next to them. She seemed not to notice the tear stains on Percy’s face, and started to speak.   
“It’s time to move out, but I need your help with something.”


End file.
